National Child Measurement Programme: Detailed Analysis of the ...

National Child Measurement Programme: Detailed Analysis of the 2007/08 Dataset 114 Prevalence Figures4.1 Reported national prevalenceAs described in the NHS IC 2007/08 NCMP report, the reported prevalence of obesity was 9.6% inReception and 18.3% in Year 6. The proportion of children classified as overweight was 13% forReception and 14.3% for Year 6. Data from the 2006/07 NCMP show prevalence of obesity was9.9% in Reception and 17.5% in Year 6 and overweight prevalence 13% in Reception and 14.2%in Year 6. It is important to see these prevalence figures within the context of the participationrates, which were for 2007/08 89% for Reception and 87% for Year 6; and for 2006/07 83% forReception and 78% for Year 6.In the 1990 baseline population, 5% of children would have been classified as obese using thisdefinition, with a further 10% classified as overweight. The 2007/08 NCMP prevalence figures showthe substantial changes that have occurred in children’s BMI over the past two decades – with theproportion of children classified as obese nearly doubling for children in Reception and increasingmore than threefold for children in Year 6 since the baseline. The rise in the proportion of childrenclassified as overweight has been less marked, but has still shown a relative increase of 30% forReception and 40% for Year 6.Figure 6: Comparison of boys’ BMI categorisation against 1990 baseline and NCMP 2006/07 and2007/08 populationsPrevalence (%)1009080706050403020ObeseOverweightHealthy weightUnderweight100Baseline 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08(UK 90)Reception boysYear 6 boys